Miss Bretherton

'-"Si CONTINUED.I ner moou S orio'of ástónízod terrorj not for ilerself, but for liim; ulule lie, esalted far iboví; all fes and calma her. :ia3 - Think no more of the vvorld which has destroyed us! We owo it nothing - notb . the bonds which linked us tu it are foivver broken. Death is at tho door ; , and mako i beautiíul; tell me you love, love, love me to tho end ! Then, putting her f rom him, he goes out to meet his eueruies. There is a clamor outside, and he retan) wouuded to death, pursued by Fernán and nis nien. lie lans, BUG T. defends him from her husband with a loóle and gesture so terrible that he and the murderers fall back beíore her as though bhe was some gl istly avenging spirit. Then, bending over him, she snatches tbe dagger from the gras-, of the dying man, saying to ; him with a voioe iuto which Isabel Bretherton j threw a weal. j of pitiful tendemess: "Thero ís but one way left, beloved. Your wife that should have been, that is, saves herself and you- sol" And in the dead silence that followed, livr last murmur ; ose upon the air as the anued ' men, carrying torches, crowded round her. "See, Macias, the torches- how they shinel Bring more- bring more- and light- our marriage festival!" "Eustacel Eustacel There, now they have I let her gol Poor child, poor childl how is ! she to stand tuis njght after night? Eustaer, I do you hear? Let us go in to her now- j quick, before she is quite surrounded. I I don't want to stay, but I must just see hor. and so must Paul. Ah, Mr. Wallaco bas gone already, but he described to me how to find her. Th' wayl" And Mme. ue Chateauvieux, brushing the tears from he eyes with one hand, took Keudal's arm with the other, and hurried him along the narrow passages leading to the di ir on to the stag , M. da Chateauvieux following thein, his keen, Frencli face glistening with a quiet bat intense satisfaction. As for Kendal, every senso in him was covetously striving to hoid and flx the ' periences of ie last half hour. The white ! mufflod figure standing in the turret door, j the faint lainplight streaming on the bent head and upraised arm- those tones of solí forgetful passion, drawn straight, as it were, from the pure heart of love- tho splendid j energy of thaf last deflance of fate and circumstanee - tho low vibrations of her dying words- the power of the actress and the personality of the woman- all these different impressions were holding wild war withio him as he hastened on, with Marie cliuging to his arm. And bcyond the little stage door the air seemed to be even more heavily charged with excitement than that of the theatre. For, as Kendal emerged with his sister, bis attention wus perforoe attracted by the little ■l of persons already assembled arouud the figuro oí babel Bretherton, and, as his iveledover them, he realized witU a start tho f uil compass of the change . had teken place. To all tho moro eminent persons in thut sroup Misa Brethextoa bad boen siz ïaoalhs beíore au ignora:l aud provincial beauty, good cnougli to créate a social craza, and noiiim;; more. Tücir preaence round her at tbió moment, their homage, tho , eniotion visible1 evcrywhure, proved that all was different, t'.iat she had p:tssed the barricr which once esisted betwaen her and the world which knowi and thiuks, aud had been drawn tuin thut circle of individualities which, however undeüned, is still the vital circle of any tinie or society, for it is the circle which represents, more or less brüliantly aud efficiently, the intellectual Ufe cf a generation. Only one thing was unchanged - the sweet uess and spoutaneity of that rich womanly nature. She gave a little cry as she saw Mme. i de Chateauvieux enter. She came running 1 iorward, and threw her arms round the eider I woman and kissed her; it was almost the freeting of a daughter to a mother. And then, slill holding Mme. Chateauvieux with one hand, she held out the other to Paul, aski ing him how much fault he had tj find, and when she was to take her scolding ; and every gesture had a glow of youth and joy in it of which the contagión was irresistible. She had thrown off the white head dress süe had worn during the last act, and her delicately tinted head aud neck rose from the splendid wedding gowu of gold eaibroidered satin- a vision cf flower like and aerial beauty. Fast ai the talk flowed ubout her, Kendal noticed tnat every one seemed to be, first of all, conscious of her neighborhood, of her dress rustling past, of her voice in all its different shades of gayety or quick emotion. "Oh, Mr. Eendal," she said, turning tohim again after their first greeting - was it the magnetism of his gaze which had recalled hen! - "if you only knew what your sister has been to me! How much I oweto her and to you! It was kind of you to come to-night I should have been so disappointed if you hadn't!" Then she came closer to him and said archly, almost in his ear: "Have jou forgiven me?" "Forgiven you? For whatf' "For laying hands on Elvira, after all You must have thought me a rash and headstrong person when you heard of it. Oh, I worked so hard at her, and all with the dread of you inmy mind!" This perfect friendly openuess, this bright camaraderie of hers, were so hard te meet. "You hare played Elvira," he said, "as I never thought it would be played by j body ; and I was bliud from first to last. I hoped you had forgotten that piece of pedantry on my part." "One does not forget the turuing points of one's life," she answered with a sudden gravity. Eendal had been keepir.g an iron grip upon himself dui"iug the past hours, but, as she said this, standing close bcside him, it seemed to him impossible that his self restraint should hold much longer. Those wonderful eyes of hers were full upon him; there was emotion in them - evidently the Nuneham scène was in her mind, a? it was in his - and a great friendliaess, even gratitude, seemed to look out through them. But it was as though his doom were written in the very candor and openness of her gaze, and he rushed desperately into speech again, hardly knowing what he was saying. ■'It gives me half pain, half pleasure, that i you should speak of it so. I have never ceased to hate myself for that day. But you have traveled far indeed since the 'White Lady'- I never knew any one to do so much in so short a time!" She -did her lip quiverl Evidently his praise wa very ptoasouEtt to her, aud there must have been somethingstrangeand stirring to her feeiiug in the intensity aud intimacy of his toue Her bright look caught hie again, and red for one wild moment that the eyelids stink and fluttered. He loei all consciousne of the crowd;ui wbolo soul seemed i-unrontrated on that one in.-i:iui. Surely sbe must feel it, or loi But no- it was isiou 1 she moved away from him, and the estranging present rushed iu again bet ween tliom. "It bas bor-n II. le Chateauvieux's doiug, almost all of it." she said, eagerly, with a a cuange of voiee, "and your sister's. VVül you come and see me .-ome timo and talk about some of t'u ■ IV 'i peoplel Oh, lam wanled! Bui Brst you must be introdueed to Macias. "VVusii't lio good? It was such a-.i excellent ehoice oí Mr. Wallace'. There he is, and there is lus n retty littlo darl; WOW Kendal followed her [cally, and presently found 1 Mr. Harting, who, jyirgeons in bia dress, was receiving the congratulatiotis whieh poured in upon liiia with s pleosant mixture of good cumi t-; nnd natural ela_tion. A llttle further on ho stumbled apon Forbes and the Stuarts. Mrs. Stuart u":;s as sparkliug and Ln a suggestive contrastinher American 'iid preltiness to the high bred distiuetion of Mme. de Chateauvii ux, who was standing near her. "Well, my dear fellow," said Forbes, catv'uing hold of him, 'how is that critical demon of yours? Is he scotched vetT' "He is almost at his last gasp,"said Keudal, with a ghostly siuik' and a reckless impulse totalk whicU seenied to him his salvation. "He was never as vicious a creatura as you thought him, and Miss Bretherton has had uo diflieulty iu slaying liim. But that hall was a ruasterpiece, Forbes I How have your pictures got on with all this?" "I baven't touched a brus!) siuce I carne back from Switzerlund except to make sketches for tuis thing. Oh, it's been a terrible business! Mr. Wortall's h-iir has turued gray orer lliu expenses of it. However, she and I would have our way, and it's all riglit; the play will run fortwelve months, if she chooses, easily.1' Near by were the Worralls, lookius a little sulky, as Kendal faucial, in fie inidst of t Itigreat inrush of the London world, which was sweeping their uieee from them into a position of superiority and independence tlie_ were not at all prepared to eee her take up. Nothing, iudeed, could be prettier than her manner to them whenever she came across them, but it was evident that she was no longer an atitomaton, to be moved at their will and pleasure, but awoman andan artist, mistress of herself and of her fate. Kendal feil into a couversation on the subject witL Mrs. Stuart-, who was as communicative and amusing as usual, and who chattered away to him till he snddenly saw Miss Jirelherton signaling to liim witii her ?irm in that of his Bister. "Do you know, Mr. Kendal," she said as he went up to hér, "you must really take Mme. de Chateauvieux away out of this noise and crowd? It is all very well for her to preach to me. Take her to your rooms and get her some food. How I wish 1 could entertain you here, but with this crowd it is impossible. " "Isabel, my dear Isabel," cried Mme. de Chateauvicux, liolding her, "oan't you slip away too, and leavo Mr. Wallace t% do the honors? There will "ue nothing left of you to-morrow." "Yes, directly, direcUy! ouly I feel as if sleep were a thiiig that did not exist for me. But you must esrtainly go. Take her, Mr. Kendal ; doesn't she look a wreek í I will teil M. de Chatcaavieux and send him after you." She took Marie's shawl from Kendal's arm and put it tenderly round her; then sho smiled down into 1 - i low "Good night, best aad kindest of friendsl" and the brother and gjster hurried away, Kendal dropping the hand which had been cordial) y stretched out to kimself. '■Do you mii:d, Eusta.ee?" said Mme. de Chateauvieux, as they walked aCTOSB the stage. "I ought to go, and the party ought to break up. But it is a shanie to earry you off from so many friends.'' "Hindi Wliy, I have ordered biipper for you in my rooms, and it is just midnight. I hopo these people will have the sense to go Boon. Now, then, for a cab." They alighted at the gate oL the Temple, and, as they walked aeross the qundrangle under a sky stijl heavy with storm clouds, Mme. de Chalcauvieux said to htr brother with a sigh: '"Veil, it has been u great event. I never remeinber anythiug more exeiting or more eucoeosful. But there is one thing, 1 think, that would make me happier than a bundred Elviras, and that is to see Isabel Brethertou the wife of a man she lovedl" Then a smile broke o vt-r her face as she looked at her brother. "Do you know, Eustace, I quite made up my mind from those first letters of yours in May, in spite of your denials, that you were very deeply taken with herí I remeinber quite seriously discussing the pros aud cons of it with myself." The words were said so lightly, they betrayed so clearly the speaker's coiction that she had made a f oolish mistake, that they stung Kendal to the quick. How could Marie have known? Had not his letters for the last three months been misleading euough to deceive the sharpest eyes? And yet she feit unreasooaüy that she ought to have known - there was a bliud clamor in him against the bluntness of her sisterly perception. His süence was so prolonged that Mme. de Chateauvieux was startled by it. She slipped her band into his arm. "Eustacel" Etill no answer. "Have l said anytuing to annoy you, Eustace'i Won't you let your old sister have her dreamsï" But Btill it seemed impossible for him to speak. He could ouly lay his hand over hers with a brotherly clasp. By this time they were at the foot of the stairs, and he led the way up, Mme. de Chateauvieux followiug in a tumult of anxious conjeeture. When they reached his rooms he put her carefully into a chair by the fire, made her take some sandwiches, and set the kettle to boil iu his haudy bachelor way that he inight make her some tea, and all the time he talked about various nothings, till at last Marie, unable to put up with it any longer, caught his hand as he was bending over the flre. "Eustace!"' she exclaimed, "bu kind to me and don't perplex me like this. Oh, my poor old bov. ar on in love with Isabel Bretherton?" Hedrew hi:u.--ilf to uis full height on the rug and gozed steudily into the flre, the liues "f his mobile face setting into repose. "Yes,"' he said. as though to himself, "I love her; I believe I have oved her from the flrst moment . " Mme. de Chateauvioux was tremblingly silent, her tboughte tra veling back over the past with lightning rapidity. Could sheremember one wonl. ■'.■" lookoi Isabel Brstherton's, of which lier memory might eerveto throw the smallest ray of ligbt on this darkness in which Eustace seemed t be standing? No, not one. Gratitude, friendahlp, eíteem- all theu had be Umtly, but nothing else - not 'ne of tlinwhich oue woman betrays her love ; ;.n other! fShc rose uu. put ber arm round her brothers neck. They had been so much to one anothcr for uearly forty yeare; he l:ai never wauted any thing asa childcryoutb thatshehad QOttrifd to get for Dim. How Strauge, hi ■ ■, that tov, this boon was beyond lier gettiugl Her inuto syinpatby and her deep dibtress touehed him, wbile, at the same timo, thej' seemed to quench the last spark of hope in him. Had he counted upon hearing something from her whenever he should break silene whicu would lichten the veil over the [TO BRCOTINt!KD. }